1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for preventing the unauthorized or accidental removal of a billfold from a pocket. More particularly, the invention relates to a billfold protection device for locking a billfold in a pocket on a garment in which the pocket material is buttoned by a button connected by thread to the garment and passed through a buttonhole in the pocket material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices have been proposed for preventing the ready removal of an object from a pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,419,735 to A. B. Jardin discloses a closure for a garment pocket which includes a plate having a pair of extensions projecting therefrom. A portion of a section of material extends parallel with and is secured to the rear face of the plate. Another portion of the section of material is bent laterally away from the upper edge of the plate and extends downwardly therefrom to form a section which, by virtue of the resiliency of the section of material, tends to expand the opening of the pocket in which the closure is placed. As a result, an item in the pocket cannot be readily removed from the pocket because of the obstruction formed by the section of material. However, when it is desired to remove an item from the pocket, it is only necessary to insert a finger into the pocket in such a manner that the section of material is moved toward the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,144 to E. B. Schick discloses a wallet protector which includes a main strip and a connecting strip which is used to hold the main strip and wallet in assembled relation. The main strip is longer than the width of the wallet so that the rounded end portions thereof project substantial distances laterally outwardly from the sides of the wallet. The main strip must be flexed into a pronounced arcuate shape whenever the wallet is to be removed from the pocket. This flexing of this main strip requires that one must insert his hand fully into the pocket and exert a positive force on the ends of the main strip in order to remove that wallet from the pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,267 to R. F. Nelson discloses a wallet guard which includes a guard device placed within the confines of a pocket. The guard device is secured to the wallet and includes a hook support made of telescopic members, one of which is a tubular rod and the other of which is a slide rod telescopically fitted into the tubular rod. The tubular rod includes an inturned hook which is adapted to engage in an edge portion of the fold section of the wallet. The tubular rod is connected to an attachment plate by a pivotal connection which allows the hook support assembly to swing. The plate is detachably secured to a wall portion of the pocket and, once so secured in the pocket, the wallet can be attached to the guard device by applying the hooks of the tubular rod and slide rod to the opposite edge portions of the fold section of the wallet and securing the hooks in engaged position. In this position, the wallet is locked in the pocket and cannot be removed therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,894 to H. S. Young discloses a wallet guard which includes a magnet having two flexible metal prongs attached thereto which attach the magnet to the wallet. Alternatively, the prongs may be omitted and the magnet may be attached to the wallet by a few stitches of thread. The guard further includes a keeper made of spring steel which has two small holes drilled therethrough. Two safety pins pass through these holes and the bottom of the pocket to secure the keeper thereto. Alternatively, the keeper may be attached to the pocket by means of a few stitches of thread that pass through the holes in the bottom of the pocket. If a pickpocket grasps the top of the wallet and pulls it upward to extract it, the pull on the magnet is transmitted to the keeper and causes it to bend so that the middle portion thereof is drawn up. Further pulling up of the wallet causes the magnet to pull away from the keeper and the middle portion of the keeper to snap back against the bottom of the pocket to thereby warn the owner that the wallet is being stolen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,498 to R. G. Carlson discloses a billfold safety guard which includes a chain, one end of which is connected to U-shaped member having two parallel legs which are separated by a space of sufficient width to permit a portion of a billfold to be inserted therein. The other end of the chain is secured to a means which includes a first and a second plate interconnected by a pin and a spring. One end of the spring bears against the second plate and the other end bears against an eye on one end of the pin. When the first plate is slipped through an eye formed in a portion of a garment, a spring forces the first and second plates to grip a pocket-defining portion of the garment therebetween. As a result, the billfold can be removed from the pocket a distance corresponding to the length of the chain but cannot be separated from the garment by reason of the attachment of the plates thereto.